NAS recommendation for use with MBA

[rezenclowd3]

It's all in the air I guess. What would be nice, would be an server/nas that I could hook up to with Thunderbolt as well as Gigabit Ethernet

+1 I would bet that Thunderbolt will come in the form of a PCI-E card down the road...

I'm holding off buying an Air till I build my file server...as otherwise the Air will be a hassle moving things to and fro.

 

[kellygeorge]

Lion compatibility

Make sure whatever NAS you get is Lion compatible. Especially if you go with WD. The Lion update requires more secure blah bah blah on NAS drives, and now neither of my drives can access time machine backups or create new ones. Still waiting on updates from WD.

 

[ZBoater]

The $179 for the 3TB WD Live is hard to pass up...

 

[theSeb]

The update to AFS in Lion has basically made all NAS devices inoperable. Synology have a BETA firmware for their devices that should be going live soon and it addresses the issue. I don't follow the other manufacturers so I can't tell you when this will be fixed.

 

[maflynn]

The $179 for the 3TB WD Live is hard to pass up...

By the same token you get what you pay for as well

----------

The update to AFS in Lion has basically made all NAS devices inoperable. Synology have a BETA firmware for their devices that should be going live soon and it addresses the issue. I don't follow the other manufacturers so I can't tell you when this will be fixed.

Qnap released their update shortly after Lion's release. While I'm not on Lion, I assume that its solid but I cannot vouch for it

 

[rbn]

synology is meant play nice with Lion

Make sure whatever NAS you get is Lion compatible. Especially if you go with WD. The Lion update requires more secure blah bah blah on NAS drives, and now neither of my drives can access time machine backups or create new ones. Still waiting on updates from WD.

 

[dread]

Just ordered the 2tb wd live from amazon. Not the best option but certainly the cheapest. I will let you know if it plays nice with lion assuming my backordered MBA will arrive sometime this month.

 

[Gregabyte]

My ReadyNAS now supports Lion and Time Machine since I installed their beta update. I really like my ReadyNAS - it will soon be time to swap in some bigger drives. 1TB just doesn't feel as big as it used to!

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

 

[xraydoc]

Whatever you do, stay away from the Drobo FS as a NAS box.

Slow, slow, slow. Oh, did I mention is was slow.

My Time Capsule makes a faster NAS than the Drobo FS, even with the TC running off WiFi and the Drobo hardwired via gigabit ethernet!

IMHO, something like the 3TB Time Capsule makes a great NAS (though essentially Mac-only). It's quick and Time Machine compatible as well. Too bad it doesn't have any built-in redundancy. You can connect a USB drive and manually archive it, but there's no automated function as far as I know.

 

[ZBoater]

Just ordered the 2tb wd live from amazon. Not the best option but certainly the cheapest. I will let you know if it plays nice with lion assuming my backordered MBA will arrive sometime this month.

Please do tell us how it works out for you! I am inclined to get the 3TB because its so cheap compared with the other options, and I just had to spring for a 24 port gigabit switch. But you get what you pay for, so I am hesitant. I like NetGear a lot and the ReadyNAS looks nice, but the Qnap and Synology options look soooo cool. Decisions decisions....

 

[cleric]

I'd just get an HP Micro Server even if you aren't that tech savvy I believe tools like FreeNAS make its pretty easy. You can load it up with 4 2TB or 3TB for a lot less than a ReadyNAS.

 

[trims]

Ok, so I am about to bite the bullet and get me some NAS.

A Netgear ReadyNAS.

My mate has just invested in the 6 bay Ultra version. Multiple redundant RAID array with hot swappable discs. Multimedia streaming to his AV set up is impressive. He has it partitioned to run both SuperDuper and Time Machine. Oh, and it handles all his PC stuff too. His nickname is UberGeek and you can see why . . . .

 

[ZBoater]

Well, I pulled the trigger. After much thought the $179 for the WD Live was nice, but I opted to spend $300 for the NetGear ReadyNAS with two 2TB WD hard drives. The web interface of the NetGear looked pretty slick on some Youtube reviews I saw, and it seems like I can get secure remote access, media streaming, swappable hard drives, the works. It also sees like it plays well with Lion. Thanks everyone for your input and comments!!!

 

[rajsukul]

DS411 looks exceptionally sexy. Too bad I don't have the money to fill it, or even purchase it >.<

A question though to you guys who have Synology NAS's: Can you access that file server from outside your network? I'm assuming you should be able to, but I've been wrong before.

I've got the Synology DS411j.

It's pretty easy to access the NAS from anywhere with an internet connection, the NAS has it's own OS that handles everything in terms of turning on external access etc... all you have to do is go onto your router and create the relevant port forwarding rules to allow external access.

Also, the new version of the OS, DSM 3.2 (which is currently in public beta but should be released soon) works fully with Lion.

I would recommend any of the Synology devices, they're brilliant.

 

[Napolke]

Ok, so I am about to bite the bullet and get me some NAS. I currently have a 2TB Time Capsule also acting as my primary access point. I have a couple of 1TB USB drives attached to my Windows 7 desktop PC, but I think I want to leave those be. I want to setup a NAS to put all my media files and have them accessible from anywhere.

My options: A WD My Book World Edition in 2, 4, or 6TB flavors. This provides some remote access capabilities, as well as iTunes server support.

A Netgear ReadyNAS.

A big USB drive connected to the USB port of my Time Capsule. Not sure how I would access that remotely without messing with my router and getting a VPN solution.

I am more concerned with ease of setup, maintenance, and use than saving a couple hundred bucks. I want this to be as plug and play as possible. Any other recommendations or ideas?

WD My Book World Edition no Lion support yet, only WD MBL has it for now.

 

[ZBoater]

Well, I pulled the trigger. After much thought the $179 for the WD Live was nice, but I opted to spend $300 for the NetGear ReadyNAS with two 2TB WD hard drives. The web interface of the NetGear looked pretty slick on some Youtube reviews I saw, and it seems like I can get secure remote access, media streaming, swappable hard drives, the works. It also sees like it plays well with Lion. Thanks everyone for your input and comments!!!

Ugghhh, I got my hands on a comparison chart and saw the Ultra 2 Plus and Ultra 4 Plus models with dual core processors, 1GB of RAM, blah blah. An Ultra 4 Plus with a couple of Seagate Barracude 2TB hard drives (leaving a couple of empty bays for future expansion, I mean, you never know) is up to $700. Dang. I cancelled my $300 order and am now deciding on whether to pull this trigger. Now I am into Qnap and Synology price territory. :roll eyes:

EDIT: Ok, I talked myself off the ledge. I'm going to go with the $300 expenditure now. Maybe later if I really get into it I will try an Ultra 2 or a Synology. I am going to try to avoid the Tim Allen syndrome (MORE POWER!!!). I did swap the WDs for Seagate Barracudas for only $20 more.

 

[Bottomsup]

I have a synology DS211j. Streams photos and music to my iphone and ipad, and runs time machine backups wirelessly. DLNA compatible so it streams videos to my PS3 and Xbox. Backs up my windows desktop PC without a hitch too. So many features in it that I can't list them all.

second. i have this unit and it's awesome. every protocol, vpn support, etc. etc. etc. love it